Supply Chain Real Estate Advisory

Is your operating model resilient, or has your business outgrown it?

CBRE evaluates how supply chain levers affect your ability to meet business objectives, and how to integrate supply chain into organizational strategy.

Do you have the right number of facilities, in the right places?

Using an iterative, data-driven process, CBRE evaluates the number, location, size, and role of facilities in your network, then compares the difference in cost and service between your current baseline and each proposed scenario. Methods include center-of-gravity analysis, flow path optimization, and local optimization based on drive-time considerations.

Which functions should stay in-house versus move to a third-party logistics provider? What are the operating requirements and service levels? Which partners should I consider, and what negotiation levers do I have?

CBRE defines baselines for service levels and supply chain logistics cost, profiles warehouse activity including inbound and outbound SKU velocities to establish what is actually being outsourced, then authors and manages the request for information and request for proposal process, scores responses, and supports selection and transition planning through 3PL ramp-up.

How should your facility be designed to align with the way you actually operate?

CBRE develops facility design requirements across operations, process, product flow, productivity, and cost management, incorporating the technology solutions your operation needs. Space planning sizes the building from calculated storage needs and the resulting rack type. Facility concept design balances volumetric profiles against speed, cost, and flexibility. Concept designs support network assessment and our detailed designs support build-to-suit delivery.

Are your operations in line with industry leaders? Where are the current bottlenecks? Do your operational processes support your order profiles and volumes?

CBRE evaluates warehouse operations, transportation, distribution, inventory, and order management to identify improvement opportunities across people, process, and technology. Methods include an on-site walk-through to surface immediate opportunities, heat mapping and slotting analysis of SKU pick velocities against stocking locations, and warehouse activity profiling of inbound and outbound orders, lines, units, and SKUs over time.

What business outcomes will this investment drive? What is the payback period? What are the cost differences among your real estate alternatives, and is the cheapest option the right one?

CBRE builds the financial justification and roadmap for supply chain change, serving as the conduit between your business problem and the industrial real estate decision. Analysis includes comprehensive discounted cash flow and return on investment comparison across options, stay-or-go decision analysis, clear height value comparison on a cost-per-cubic-foot basis, and net present value, internal rate of return, and payback modeling for automation versus continued manual operation. Capital expenditure and transition costs are modeled for you and not estimated later in the process.